Nets Have Big Letdown in Orlando

sbnation.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 9th, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs. Orlando Magic Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 111 Magic 115

The Brooklyn Nets coming off a great win against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night laid an egg on Wednesday against the Orlando Magic, losing 115-111. The loss moves the Nets to (43-35) on the season, which leaves them three games behind the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division with four games to play, almost assuring that the Nets will be the fifth seed in the East.

Player of the Game: Joe Johnson

Easily the best player for the Nets in their losing effort on Wednesday was Joe Johnson, who for the second straight game led the Nets in scoring. Johnson finished with a game-high 31 points on 11 for 19 shooting. Johnson also added five assists and four rebounds to go along with his big scoring night, but it wasn’t enough to help the Nets get the win with three rotation players sitting, as with a chance to tie the game he had his three-point attempt blocked by Kyle O’Quinn.

Positives:

In his second game back from the back spasms that cost him to miss 19 straight games, Kevin Garnett was very good in his 17 minutes of play. Garnett scored only five points on two for two shooting, but grabbed eight rebounds, and had six assists. A productive Garnett can be a huge weapon for the Nets come playoff time in what will be a difficult first round match-up.

After a huge game-winning block on LeBron James, Mason Plumlee was moved back to the bench with the return of Garnett, but Plumlee played extremely well coming in for Garnett. Plumlee finished with 16 points off the bench on seven for eight shooting to go along with five rebounds, but Plumlee did foul out in the fourth quarter.

Negatives:

Deron Williams really struggled on Wednesday coming off a poor game scoring against the Heat where he scored just eight points. Against Orlando, Williams scored 11 points on a horrendous three for 14 shooting day, which included going one for six from behind the three-point arc.

For the Magic off the bench a major factor in their second quarter domination was E’Twaun Moore. Moore scored 14 straight points in the second quarter, and finished with 17 points on a perfect six for six shooting day from the field, which included him going five for five from three-point range.

The Nets were far from 100% in this game, as Shaun Livingston was given the day off, Andray Blatche missed his second straight game with an illness, and Paul Pierce despite being five points shy of 25,000 sat out with a hip pointer.

Next up for the Nets will be a trip back to the Barclays Center where they have won 15 straight, and will look to make it 16 straight on Friday against the Hawks.

Nets Complete Season Sweep of Miami Heat

washingtonpost.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 8th, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs. Miami Heat Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 88 Heat 87

The Brooklyn Nets were able to complete the season sweep of the Miami Heat, as with the victory on Tuesday night; the Nets have beaten the defending champions four times this season. The win moves the Nets to within two games of the Toronto Raptors for the Atlantic division’s top spot with five games left for each team.




Player of the Game: Marcus Thornton

For the Nets on Tuesday, it was one of their main bench players that stood out against the Heat, as Marcus Thornton in his 28 minutes of play made a big impact for Brooklyn. Thornton finished with 16 points on six for eight shooting, which included him going four for five from behind the arc. He also added six rebounds, and a game-high four steals to high the highest plus/minus of any player, going +8.

Positives:

Kevin Garnett was given the day off against Miami, which led to Mason Plumlee being moved back into the starting lineup, and late in the game he made the play that gave the Nets the win. In the final seconds with LeBron James looking for a game-winning dunk, Plumlee stepped in and made the play to stop James with a huge block that sent James into a frantic outburst looking for a foul. Besides the game-saving block, Plumlee led the Nets in rebounds with eight, and added eight points on four for six shooting with three blocks and one steal.

Scoring wise, Joe Johnson was the main gun for the Nets on Tuesday, as he scored a team-high 19 points on nine of 17 shooting from the field. Paul Pierce was the only other Nets starter in double figures, as he finished with 14 points on five for eight shooting. Pierce will be heading into Orlando five points shy of reaching 25,000 career points, which he will almost certainly reach on Wednesday. Coming off the bench besides the big game from Thornton, it was Mirza Teletovic who helped the bench scoring in the absence of Andray Blatche, as he scored 11 points on four for eight shooting.

The Heat were without Dwyane Wade, but still have another great player besides James in Chris Bosh, and the Nets did a very good job containing him. Bosh had a tough game scoring only 12 points on a poor five for 13 shooting day from the field, and for going against the small lineups of Brooklyn, Bosh only grabbed six rebounds.

Negatives:

Although James had his attempted game-winner stopped by Plumlee, he was very good during the game. James scored a game-high 29 points on nine for 16 from the field and 11 for 14 from the free throw line. When facing James, he does a lot more than just score, as grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, and dished out six assists in the losing effort.

Next up for the Nets will be the second half of a back to back against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.

Mets Start Road Trip Strong, Blank Braves

Written by Kenneth Teape (@tapester725)

Tuesday, April 8^th, 2014

New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves

Post Game Recap

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The New York Mets were able to get their nine-game road trip off on a positive note Tuesday night, blanking their division rival Atlanta Braves 4-0. It was a quite game offensively, as both starting pitchers were dealing throughout the night.

Bartolo Colon dominated the Braves through his seven innings of work. He allowed only six hits, striking out five and walking none. Only two Braves even got past first base, as Freddie Freeman doubled in the first inning and Andrelton Simmons reached second because of a Ruben Tejada error in the seventh inning. It was an impressive outing for Colon, who worked with little help from the Mets offense tonight, but did not waver.

W2W4: Brooklyn Nets vs Miami Heat April 8th, 2014

barclayscenter.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 8th, 2014

W2W4: Brooklyn Nets vs. Miami Heat

Pre-Game News and Notes

The Brooklyn Nets will be heading down to South Beach trailing the Toronto Raptors by 2.5 games in the Atlantic Division, as when it comes to playoff seeding it is looking more and more likely that the Nets are going to be the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference.

- Sweep

Brooklyn has been very good against the Heat this season, as they are 3-0 facing the defending champions, but with the Heat fighting for the first seed in the Eastern Conference, this maybe the toughest game to beat the Heat. Since the big three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade have came together only the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics have defeated the Heat three times in a season, and the Nets will look to be the first to beat the Big 3 four times in a season.

- 25k

Paul Pierce has a very good chance on Tuesday night to reach elite company in NBA history, as he is just 19 points shy of 25,000 career points. Pierce has been a main reason for the Nets great play against the Heat this season, as Pierce is averaging 23.7 points per game on 53.8 percent from the field. Pierce always seems to step up his play when playing against James, so if Pierce has a good game he may help the Nets win a big game in Miami, and join Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, and teammate Kevin Garnett as the fourth active player to reach 25,000 points.

- Rest for KG

After returning to the Nets on Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers, Garnett will be resting against the Heat. Garnett played good in his return to the Nets after missing 19 straight games, as in 13 minutes he scored 10 points on five for six shooting. With Garnett out again, Mason Plumlee will slide back into the starting lineup after having a good game off the bench in what will be his normal role come playoff time. With the playoffs right around the corner and the Nets seemingly stuck in the 5th seed, it will be interesting to see if Jason Kidd elects to rest some of his players coming into playoff time.

Mets Take Series Against Reds

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Cincinnati Reds vs. New York Mets

Series Recap, April 4^th-6^th

Results:

April 4th	Reds: 3	Mets: 4
April 5th	Reds: 3	Mets: 6
April 6th	Reds: 2	Mets: 1

The New York Mets were able to bounce back from a poor season opening series, taking two of three from the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend at Citi Field. It was a nice response for the Mets, as the opening series created more questions than answers for manager Terry Collins. It also gives them a little positive momentum as the Mets will embark on a nine-game road trip starting against the division rival Atlanta Braves.

-Positives

Elsa/Getty Images

After struggles in the first series, the Mets first basemen blasted the ball against the Reds. Receiving the start in the first game, Lucas Duda launched two homers, knocking in all four runs in a Mets 4-3. Ike Davis then hit a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam in game two to give the Mets a 6-3 victory. Davis continued to hit well, going 2-4 in the series finale.

The bullpen was atrocious to start the season, but they had a solid series against a dangerous Reds offense. The Mets bullpen gave up only two runs in eight innings, both surrendered by John Lannan in 2/3 inning of work in the series opening game. Jose Valverde was able to lock down his first save of the season in the first game, also pitching a clean inning in the finale to keep his ERA at 0.00 to start the season. Kyle Farnsworth pitched 2.1 innings in the series, looking more comfortable after a rocky first appearance.

Nets Hold on to Victory in Philadelphia

espn.go.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 5^th, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs Philadelphia 76ers Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 105 76ers 101

The Brooklyn Nets were able to win the second half of a back to back against the horrible Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, and with the win moved the Nets to (42-34) on the season. The victory keeps the Nets 2.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division with six games left on the schedule.

Player of the Game: Deron Williams

In the win on Saturday, it was Deron Williams who helped lead the Nets to the road victory against the woeful 76ers. Williams scored a team-high 19 points on six for 11 shooting with nine assists and four rebounds. Williams also tied a Nets franchise record, as he was able to swipe a steal in his 26^th consecutive game. In the fourth quarter with the lead falling apart, Williams had a big four-point play to help the Nets hold on to the win.

Positives:

On Saturday night the biggest positive for the Nets was the return of their Center Kevin Garnett, who had been out with back spasms for the previous 19 games. In his return, Garnett played very good against the 76ers, which was probably the best opponent for anyone to get rid of rust against. He finished with 10 points on five for six shooting with four rebounds, one steal, and one block in 13 minutes. With his 10 points, Garnett also passed Alex English for 14^th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Biggest thing for the Nets and Garnett moving forward will be how many minutes the medical staff thinks he can play for the rest of the regular season, and eventually the playoffs.

Due to the return of Garnett, it moved Mason Plumlee back to the bench, but Plumlee still saw a good amount of court time, and played well in his new role. Plumlee finished with 16 points on eight for 10 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds in 23 minutes. The combination of Garnett and Plumlee makes the Nets Center situation look a lot better heading into the playoff then it did with just Plumlee as the starter.

Scoring wise the Nets were pretty well balanced with six players in double-digits, as besides Williams Garnett and Plumlee, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson and Andray Blatche also had 10 or more points. Pierce finished with 11 points on five for 10 shooting in addition to his five rebounds and four assists. Johnson added 12 points on four for nine shooting, and Blatche scored 10 on four for eight shooting in just 11 minutes.

Negatives:

the second half wasn’t very good for Brooklyn after they heading into halftime with a 15-point lead, as the 76ers outscored them in the third quarter by three points, and the in the fourth by eight points. Jason Kidd decided to never bring Garnett, Pierce or Johnson back into the game, which was a questionable decision with the 76ers mounting a comeback, but Williams and the bench got it done to hold on to the win.